Animal-trap.



J1 kf. HHH.

MWWM TRM. AFPUCATIUN miv umm, 19H.

WITNE'SSIES legheny illustrated. Figure cated in dotted lines in the act showing the verneinen r. nieren, or nierstenen, rien'nartvnrrra.

tpecineation of Lettere llatent.

Patented duly d3, ldld,

Application led iletobcr 2J?, lll. .teria-rl lilo. lebt-wed.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that ll, Vernier/ran F. ltnron, residing at Pittsburgh, inthe county et dland State or Pennsylvania, aV citizen of the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful linprovements in Animal-Traps, ot which improvement the following is a speeication.

rlhe object et my invention is toprovide an animal trap which is simple in construction, and ed'ective for its intended purpose, and which may be easily set without liability ot injury to the person setting it. i

ln the accompanying sheet oli' drawings which forms part of niy preferred embodiment of my invention is l is a side elevation of the trap set for catching an animal; lig. 2 is a sectional view talren on the line lit-dl, lig. 1;'l4`ig. 3 a sectional view talren on the line lll-dll, Fig. 2, the trap being indiot being closed; and Fig. d a view similar to liig.

trap in closed position.

'T he trap which li provide includes a cage provided with an entrance, and oi' suoli size and'form as to receive the animal desired to'he caught. Secured to the cage and projecting laterally therefrom, there is a counterweight which cooperates with a toot pivoted to the trap -to hold the cage in an elevated overhanging position; that is to say,

' from; its supported position,

.that shown herein is to catchrats or unice.

' *dingrespect to this connection,

in a position projecting beyond the toot at the opposite side thereof to the counterweight. A-door is provided for the cage entrance and is connected to the pivoted toot in such manner that when an anirnal enters the overhanging cage,

theftoot will close the door.'

While.' the trap which ll have provided may be used for trap ing various animals,

articularly adapted heterring to the enibodiment orl my inventionillustrated in the drawing, the cage l, which is or' tapered elongated form, is provided'at its outer end with a slidably mounted closure 2, to which there is attached a suitable support, such as a hook 3, for bait. rlhe closure 2 is slidably mounted so that it maybe removed, by slidit upwardly, to bait'the hook 3. With it will be observed that only the llower portion ot' the closure 2 has sliding engagement with the cage l, and that vtherefore the closure may -be provided with a specication, the

and causes it to tall be removed aiter it has been slid lupwardly about hall? of its depth.

rlhc opposite end ot torni an entrance 1i adapted to be closed by a door 5. itt the entrance i the cage l may reinforcing band l2. The toot tor supporting the cage l in its elevated overhanging position, as indicated in Fig. l, preferably coniprises a plate d pLv-oted to the trap on a horizontal airis at the bottom of the entrance d. VTlhe counterweight, which cooperates with the toot 6 to hold the cage in its elevated position, preter- -L bly comprises a plate 'l' lying in the general plane olf the bottom ot the cage and ot such weight as to hold the cage inthe position indicated. y Y

lihe door 'inay be variously connected to the foot-6 so that when the cage tails or rotates about the lower edge of the toot as a pivot the door will be closed. Preferably, however, the door is attached directly to or Yforms a continuation ot the upper end ot the foot, thedoor lying above andthe toot below'the plate .'i. llt will loe seen that by such'construetion and arrangement the foot G may of the cage l than the position indicated in Fig. l, and that the door 5 may not Inoveiarther within the cage than is indicated in Fig. d. That is to say the toot 5 and door 5 lying on opposite sides of plate 7., and dispose at substantially right 'angles to each other, may not, because of the intervening plate, move beyond the alternate positions indicated in Figs. i and 4t. To set the trap it is onlyv necessary to hold it in the inclined position indicated in Fig. l and place it upon a door or support.- it. mouse or other animal in quest of the bait secured to the hoolr 3 may wallr up the inclined plate 7 and into the entrance ot' the cage. ,its soon as the weight ott/he animal entering the cage overcomes the counterbalancing etiect ot the 4plate il, the cage drops downwardly, rotating about the lower edge of the toot 6 in the manner indicated 'by dotted line'ii'n v3. in this position the center of gravity ofthe `cage falls between and the lower edge ot the pivoted Jfoot thus causing a thrust upon these supporting points which causes the trap to immediately drop to the position indicated in Fig. fl.

That there may be no tendency for the .cage and toot `to r tain their relative posiother Y it y 'i not move farther toward the bottoni ea I to p I e5 l' i roe ier the torward end ofthe cage desired, however,

tions indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the forward lower end of the cage is preferably rounded as indicated at 8. l

` It will be understood that, when the` trap is closed,` the door may not readily be opened by an animal Within the cage, be cause to do so it is necessary for the animal to exert suiiicient force upon the door to lift Y a portion of the Weight of the trap and also a portion ofthe animals own Weight. If

to theside of the cage 1,-and the door 5 may be shaped to Vform a detent l2 for engagement bythe catch when the door is opened.

The outer'end of the catch is rounded so that, as the door is'closed, the catch Will be raised toa position wherein it will fall behind the detentl when the door is com"- pletely closed. l

According to theprovisions of the atent statutes, I have described the princip e and operation of my invention, together with the construction which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that within the scope of the appended claims, my

invention may be practlsed by other forms of construction than that particularly shown and described herein.

I claim as my invention:

lrAn animal trap comprising a cage pro- Avided with an entrance, -a counterweight Y weight.

-pivoted on a horizontal axis 2. An animal trap comprising a cage provided With an entrance, a4 counterweight connected to said cage and rejecting out'- wardly from the entrance t ereof, a door at the bottom a catch 11 maybe pivoted Lerares of said entrance and disposed above said counterweight, and a Yfoot secured to said door and adapted' to hold said cage in elevated position when the door is opened.

.3. An animal trap comprising a cage provided with an entrance, a plate secured to said cage and projecting outwardly from said entrance, a Vdoor pivoted on a horizontal axis at the bottom or" said entrance and disposed above said plate, and a foot secured to and adapted to swing with saiddoor on the pivotal axis'thereof, the weight of said plate being adapted, when the door is opened, to liold the cage in elevated position projecting beyond said foot. 4. An animal trap comprising a cage provided with an entrance, a plate secured to said cage and projecting outwardly from the entrance and lying in the general plane of the bottom of said cage, a door for said entrance disposed above and a supporting foot for said cage disposed below said plate, said door and foot being secured substantially at right angles to each other and pivoted on a horizontal axis at the bottoni of the cage entrance.

5. An animal trap comprising a cage provided With an entrance, a counterweight connected to and vprojecting outwardly from the entrance of said cage and affording a runway to the entrance of the cage, a door for said entrance disposed above and a sup` porting foot for said cage disposed below said counterweight, said door and foot being secured at an angle to each other and vpivoted on a horizontal axis at the bottom of the cage entrance, said foot coperating with said counterweight to hold the cage in an elevated position projecting beyond said foot when the door is in open position, and said door being adapted to be closed when the Weight 'of an animal entering said cage overbalances said counterweiglit.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.` v

- VALDEMAR F. REICH. Witnesses:

PAUL N. CIuTonLow,

FRANCES J. ToMAssoN. 

